Faculty
Dr. Robert Best
Robert Best, lyric baritone, is an Associate Professor of Voice at Baylor University. He holds the Doctor of Musical Arts degree in Vocal Performance/Pedagogy from the University of Colorado at Boulder and also earned BM and MM degrees in Vocal Performance from Arizona State University. Dr. Best was an apprentice artist with Opera Colorado, and has been a featured soloist with many symphony orchestras, including the Colorado Symphony Orchestra and the National Repertory Orchestra. He has recorded on the Capstone and the Society of Composers, Inc. Performers’ CD Series labels.
Dr. Best’s students have been named as award winners in numerous competitions including the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions, MTNA National Young Artist Voice Competitions, and have performed with such organizations as the San Francisco Opera, Houston Grand Opera, Santa Fe Opera, Opera Colorado, Arizona Opera, Nashville Opera, Austin Opera, and in Broadway productions of Legally Blonde and Hairspray!
To learn more about Dr. Best please click here.
Julianne Lungren Best
Julianne Best, soprano, teaches in the voice division at Baylor University. She holds an MM in Vocal Performance from the University of Colorado at Boulder, where she studied with Barbara Doscher and Robert Harrison. Other studies include the Stuttgarter Hochschule für Musik, Arizona State University, and Northern Arizona University. She worked with Joan Sutherland & Richard Bonynge at the Britten-Pears School and Martin Isepp at the Banff Academy of Singing.
With Opera Colorado Artist Center, she performed the roles of Susanna, Despina, & Miss Wordsworth, as well as Clorinda and Lucia with Opera Colorado. She has performed another dozen roles and has sung in over 50 oratorio and concert performances with orchestras & choral organizations. Ms. Best was a World Finalist in the Pavarotti International Competition in 1995.
Ms. Best holds a special interest in the development of adolescent singer, with a successful private voice studio in Waco. Her students have received awards in NATS, Schmidt Vocal, Hal Leonard, and the National Federation of Music Clubs competitions. They have been chosen for summer programs at Tanglewood, Northwestern, and the Schmidt Vocal Institute and regularly receive music scholarships to universities in Texas and throughout the United States.
Dr. Ellie Shattles
Dr. Ellie Shattles, mezzo-soprano and collaborative pianist, is thrilled to join the 2023 Colorado Vocal Institute for her fourth season. Dr. Shattles received her D.M.A. in Opera Performance from The University of Texas, and also holds a B.M. and M.M. in Vocal Performance from Baylor University, where she maintained her side business as a Collaborative vocal pianist. Her recently performed opera roles include Dinah (Trouble in Tahiti), Jo (Little Women), Lucretia (Rape of Lucretia), Baker’s Wife (Into the Woods), Mme de Croissy (Dialogues of the Carmelites), and Maddy (Three Decembers). From 2014-2019, Ellie was a Voice Faculty Member and Theory lecturer for the Boston University Tanglewood Institute Young Artist Vocal Program.
Dr. Shattles enjoys teaching private voice lessons, coaching musical theatre students and accompanying/music directing many musical theatre productions in the Austin area. Her recent musicals include Next to Normal, and The Last Five Years with Ground Floor Theatre and Deaf Austin Theatre. Ellie has also directed Beauty and the Beast for St. Stephen’s Episcopal School and is directing The Lightning Thief: Percy Jackson in the 2023 season. Finally, Dr. Shattles has performed with the Alchemy Theatre assistant music directing Mack & Mabel and will be music directing and playing The Baker’s Wife for their 2023 season. She lives in Austin with her wonderful husband John, cat Clara, and two Chihuahuas, Mulder and Scully.